Superman
by Audrianna13
Summary: /In the end, he couldn't save her./ He had just enough strength to stay in ghost form and watch as his best friend, the girl he was secretly in love with, fell to her death. "SAM! NO!"
1. Falling

**A/N: All right. Sad fic. Well, I think it's sad. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does.**

Danny and Sam clung to each other in the midst of the burning school, terrified. Danny's powers had slowly deserted him as he was driven to the state of exhaustion trying to protect the other students (Skulker had set fire to the school in their most recent fight). Sam had demanded he take her last – _always protecting others_.

"Ugh," Danny moaned, swiping at his brow. "Okay…come on, Sam. Hold onto me. Tighter." _Don't let go of me._

Sam nodded and wrapped her arms around Danny so that he could lift her out easily.

"All right," the halfa said, fatigue plain in his voice as he wrapped his own arms around her. "On the count of three. One…two…"

Suddenly the ceiling started to collapse downwards. Sam screamed. Danny shut his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, making the two of the intangible. The debris passed right through them, and Danny flew them up a bit and then allowed the intangibility to dissipate. _That was close. Too close._

Danny quickly rose higher into the air, faltering slightly when they finally passed out of the burning building and into the open air.

The halfa suddenly felt light-headed – _so much oxygen after being in the smoke for a while, I think – _and his grip on Sam slackened slightly. Sam tried to cling to him tighter, but she had blisters on her hands from where she had tried to escape through the doors earlier. She hadn't told Danny. _She didn't tell me. _

Skulker reappeared and shot a rocket at Danny. The halfa's eyes widened and he tried to deflect the missile with a shield, and when that failed, he tried to fly away. He moved just enough that the rocket exploded right in front of the two teens.

Danny's already weak grasp on Sam loosened even more as he was thrown back, and Sam couldn't hold onto him anymore. She couldn't stop herself from letting go. She couldn't even bring herself to scream as she started to fall.

A second missile trailing in the smoke of the first hit Danny and threw him to the ground in front of Tucker, Jazz, his parents, the rest of the school, and the few firefighters that were trying to put out the ghostly flames. They all watched in horror as Sam fell.

"_SAM!" _Danny screamed, trying to fly back up to her. He couldn't even make it off the ground. He had just enough strength to stay in ghost form and watch as his best friend, the girl he was secretly in love with, fell to her death. "_SAM! NO!"_

Skulker had vanished, but Danny didn't care. He only cared for the spot where Sam had fallen back into the building. The halfa started moving towards the school, but Tucker and Jazz moved to restrain him.

"You can't go back in there, Danny!" Jazz said, tears trailing down her face. "It's unsafe, and you can barely use any of your powers!"

"Let! Me! _GO_!" Danny shouted, struggling.

"It's too late, Danny. It's too late to save her," said Tucker, his voice breaking and his eyes suspiciously shiny. "She's gone. Sam's dea—"

"SHE – IS – NOT – DEAD!" Danny screamed, fighting harder even as tears fell from his eyes and he shook from exhaustion. "_SAM!_" If he'd had any energy, his Ghostly Wail would have destroyed several buildings.

Tucker forcefully turned him around to face him, taking Danny's shoulders in his hands and shaking the halfa.

"She's gone," he said.

"_Don't you say that!_" Danny said viciously. "Don't say that! She's still there – we can save her –" _**I **__can still save her!_

"She's gone," Tucker repeated.

"No," Danny said, barely struggling anymore. _Impossible. It's impossible for her to be gone._

"She's _gone_, Danny," Tucker said, his voice breaking again. "Sam's gone."

"She _can't _be gone," Danny said despairingly, staring into Tucker's eyes. He fell to his knees, taking the techno-geek with him. The halfa buried his face into Tucker's shoulder, his body wracking with sobs. Tucker pulled him the rest of the way into a hug, Jazz joining them.

"She's gone," the techno-geek kept repeating dully. "She's gone. Sam's gone. She's dead."

_I couldn't save her. _

* * *

**A/N: If you'll notice, Danny's thoughts are kind of a mix of present and past. I dunno. I can change it if y'all don't like it. Danny's reaction to Sam's death is kind of a mix of Harry Potter's when Sirius died and Scott Summers when Jean Grey (Gray?) died. Also, I sort of imagined Kate Barlow from the movie Holes when her Sam died, the way that she screamed his name and then just kind of whimpered it. **

**Anyway. Hope you liked it...I honestly don't know what made me write this. Oh, wait. That song that I don't know the name of. Right! A couple of the lyrics were something along the lines of "And they should try to hold on/Best they can/He hasn't dropped them/Forgot them/It's just too heavy for Superman to lift". That's also where the name of the fic came from. If anyone knows the name of that song, could you tell me? Then I can change the title, too. And give credit for the lyrics, which I don't own, in case you were wondering O Almighty Lawyers!  
**


	2. Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does.**

Maddie was standing with Jack, Jazz, and Tucker, in a panic because her son (and Sam, now that she thought of it) hadn't emerged from the building yet. He hadn't come out the doors or windows, and Phantom hadn't gotten him either. Amazingly enough, the ghost child was the one who had saved most of the students. A part of Maddie protested that he was just acting; that he was trying to fool them again; that he was just another evil, vile, no-good ghost…but that was a very small part. The rest of her wanted to trust him to bring all of the children to safety.

_Please_, she thought to herself. _Please, be all right. Both of you._

Just then, Phantom appeared out of the smoke above Lancer's classroom. He was carrying Sam in his arms.

A surge of relief flared in Maddie before it was squashed by panic. _Where's Danny? __**Where is my boy?**_

Then she could only watch in horror as a familiar, green-haired metal ghost shot a rocket at Phantom, quickly followed by another. Phantom was blown back, and Sam was ripped from his grasp. All Maddie could do was watch the girl's fall.

Phantom landed right in front of her, skidding to a halt by Jazz and Tucker. He was dazed for only a few seconds before he realized Sam wasn't with him, and he, too, saw her falling. Unlike Maddie, however, as soon as he saw her, he started running for her.

"_SAM!_" he screamed, and Maddie was shocked by the amount of desperation and agony laced in his voice. "_SAM! NO!"_ He couldn't seem to get into the air.

Her daughter and Tucker grabbed him before he could get too far. He struggled furiously against them, his eyes blazing.

"You can't go back in there, Danny!" said Jazz, and Maddie noted numbly it was almost the same tone of voice she was usually using with her brother. "It's unsafe, and you can barely use any of your powers!" Her daughter cared about Phantom? And Tucker, too? Why?

"Let! Me! _GO!_" the ghost boy shouted. His face was twisted in pain, but not from the teenagers' grips, Maddie was sure. _He cares about Sam?_

"It's too late, Danny," started Tucker, and Maddie suddenly felt a flash of only somewhat rational fury – shouldn't Tucker be comforting _her _Danny _(please be safe wherever you are_), the one who had just lost one of his two best friends? _He liked her, too_, her inner voice muttered. _From the way his eyes looked whenever he talked about her, you always knew that._ "It's too late to save her." The techno-geek's voice broke as he talked to the ghost child. "She's gone. Sam's dea—"

"SHE – IS – NOT – DEAD!" Phantom screamed. Maddie watched, astounded, as tears slowly made their way down his face. He was shaking, but he fought harder than ever. "_SAM!_"

Tucker forced the ghost boy to turn and face him, then grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

"She's gone," Tucker said.

"_Don't you say that!_" Phantom said viciously. "Don't say that! She's still there – we can still save her –" The despair in his voice said another thing: _I should have saved her. How could I have dropped her?_

"She's gone," the techno-geek repeated. Maddie felt her eyes well up in tears as what had happened finally sunk in. _Sam was dead. _

"No," the ghost boy said, not even struggling anymore. His eyes were blank. Maddie felt like crying harder as she somehow saw her son in this ghost, and it was _he _that was in denial over Sam's death, _he _who had that blank look in his eyes. _That's probably how he __**will **__react, though,_she thought to herself.

"She's _gone_, Danny," Tucker said again, his voice breaking for the second time. "Sam's gone."

"She _can't_ be gone," Phantom said despairingly, staring into Tucker's eyes. Maddie had never seen a ghost display this level of human emotion – the ghost in front of her seemed as alive as the rest of the town as emotions flashed across his face. He suddenly crumpled, dragging Tucker down with him. The ghost buried his face in Tucker's shoulder; his body was shaking with sobs that Maddie didn't doubt for a second were real.

Tucker pulled him the rest of the way into a hug as tears dripped down his face as well. After a second's hesitation, Jazz joined them as well.

"She's gone," the techno-geek kept repeating dully for the next several minutes as he tightly grasped Phantom. "She's gone. Sam's gone. She's dead."

Maddie knew, rationally, that she needed to give them time to grieve a little, but she needed to know where her little boy Danny was _**right this instant**__._ She moved a few steps closer and knelt down next to them. Jazz lifted her head, and as Maddie reached out her hand to shake Phantom's shoulder, she shook her head in a frantic "_No!_" gesture.

Phantom felt the movement and his grip on Tucker's shoulder tightened minutely before his hand relaxed again.

"Phantom?" Maddie asked quietly.

The white-haired ghost shifted his head slightly, one dull green eye looking at her.

"Where's Danny?" she asked bluntly. "Where's my son?"

Phantom completely lifted his head from Tucker's shoulder to look at her.

"Is he okay?"

Something _changed _in Phantom's face. It was an awful, maddened look. He started laughing softly, and it slowly grew louder, gaining a hysterical edge to it. He was still shaking.

"Phantom," Maddie growled. "_What have you done with my boy_?"

This had Phantom leaning against Tucker as he fought for breath he didn't need, giving a sort of hiccupy giggle as he shook. "Déjà vu," he explained at the expressions on the face of the others surrounding him, still laughing a bit. "But do I copy that jerk Dan and tell you? Or do I just assure you he's fine…which he's not." Tucker and Jazz had looks of dawning comprehension on their faces as soon as Phantom mentioned this 'Dan' person.

Maddie panicked. "_**Where is my son**__?_" she snarled, grabbing Phantom by the shoulders, intending to shake him. As soon as she touched him, however, he slapped her hands away and jerked back.

"Don't touch me!" he growled. "Your precious child is fine! I can't say much for his mental state because of…because s-she…" he gulped and couldn't continue the sentence, looking very young suddenly, young and lost.

Maddie immediately felt bad for her reaction. He was obviously very different from other ghosts, and very much affected by this. Apparently the ghost had been spending time with Jazz, her Danny, Tucker, and…Sam.

"I…" she started. "I'm sorry. To the both of you." She looked at Jazz. "All three of you. I'm sorry…I'm sorry for your loss."

"Shut up," Phantom murmured, glaring death towards the ground at her feet. "You don't care about me. I'm just a ghost – what do I feel? You care for your child, but you don't care for me. You could never care for _my _safety, for _my _wellbeing because as much as I wish I still were, _I'm __**not HUMAN!**_"

Maddie took a step back in shock as he screamed at her. There was something more hidden underneath those words, something she didn't understand.

"I'm so tired, Tucker," Phantom said, looking exhausted again. Defeated. "I'm so tired…I don't care anymore…"

Rings of blue-white light appeared around the collapsed Phantom's waist. They slowly traveled up his body until it was Danny Fenton who kneeled before her.

He met her eyes for a brief moment – _they're so dead, he's in so much pain, I need to help him, but how can my son be Phantom? _– before they rolled back into his head and he fell into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

**A/N: Oh yeah, I'm on a roll today! I'm going to mark this as Complete, but if any of y'all think I should continue it or write a sequel or something, I'm pretty sure I'd be up for it. **

**By the way, I finally figured out the name of the song. It was "Waitin' for a Superman" except it was the softer version by Iron & Wine. I like that song...  
**


End file.
